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death penalty

Capital punishment was abolished in Canada 40 years ago.
The 75-year sentence handed down to convicted cop killer Justin Bourque has reignited the debate over the death penalty in Canada. Some are satisfied with what effectively will be a life sentence without parole for Mr. Bourque. Others think it's not enough and would like to see him executed. But is bringing back the death penalty the answer? The issue then becomes, how do we distinguish between murderers who can be rehabilitated and those who won't or can't?
We all have a part of us that is still connected to the animal emotions within that have not been filtered by our more mature moral pre-frontal cortex. I know that feeling all too well. It comes over me when I read about child abuse, especially child sexual abuse, especially committed by clergy.
Being accused of being soft on crime by a government with multiple ongoing investigations by the RCMP and Elections Canada for various ethics violations, is a bit rich. And while today we mark World Day Against The Death Penalty -- it will be greeted with silence from official Conservative Ottawa.
Beygom Yadi Jamaloei is an Iranian 70-year-old mother who wrote an open letter four months ago pleading with the world to help prevent the illegal execution of her son, Gholamreza Khosravi. I have personally worked on multiple execution cases and can assure you that international attention saves lives in Iran. You have the power to help. Be his voice for justice.
As jurors in the Tori Stafford decide fate of accused child killer Michael Rafferty, the gruesome details of the case have renewed calls to bring back the death penalty in such brutal murders.
The recent incendiary comments from a Senator about the death penalty reflects an otherwise disturbing trend among Conservatives regarding their approach to capital punishment. Since they came to power in 2006, Canada has not been as steadfast in its traditional abolitionist point of view, either at home or abroad.
The death penalty Iranian Christian cleric Youcef Nadarkhani could face is the latest in a soul-numbing human rights record that should make every European company doing business with the Iranian regime hope that there will not be an earthly or heavenly day of reckoning.
This week, Americans cheered as Amanda Knox was acquitted and her family closed the book on years of grueling uncertainty. Miss Knox's acquittal has been lauded as the achievement of justice in a fraught Italian legal system. But my family still struggles with the injustice of that system.